Southland Tournament: Nicholls vs. McNeese odds, picks and predictions
The Nicholls Colonels (20-13) and McNeese Cowboys (29-3) meet in the Southland Conference Championship Game Wednesday at Legacy Center in Lake Charles, La. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook's lines around the Nicholls vs. McNeese odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
Third-seeded Nicholls upset No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in overtime Tuesday in the semifinals 81-73, covering the spread as 4.5-point underdogs. The Islanders missed a chance of winning their 3rd straight Southland Tournament title.
Nicholls is on quite the roll, winning 4 in a row, and 7 of the past 8 games. The Colonels are 4-0 against the spread (ATS) in their past 4 outings, and 7-1 ATS in the previous 8 contests. That includes an 83-62 loss at McNeese March 2 as the Cowboys covered an 18-point line with the Over (143.5) cashing.
Top-seeded McNeese swept the season series against Nicholls, winning both games by at least 21 points, while covering both games as a favorite of 14.5 or more points. The Over-Under split in the 2 regular-season meetings.
The Cowboys pounded Lamar in the semifinals Tuesday, winning 76-57 as a 14-point favorite as the Under (139.5) connected. McNeese has won 10 in a row since a 77-74 road loss at Southeast Louisiana Feb. 3.
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Nicholls vs. McNeese odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 4:25 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Nicholls +890 (bet $100 to win $890) | McNeese -1700 (bet $1,700 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Nicholls +14.5 (-105) | McNeese -14.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 140.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)
Nicholls vs. McNeese picks and predictions
Prediction
McNeese 75, Nicholls 64
Moneyline
McNeese (-1700) will cost 17 times the potential return. There is never a reason to bet such a heavy favorite.
In this championship game, even though the Cowboys have won both regular-season meetings by an average of 24.0 points per game, avoid McNeese. You would have to risk $100 for every $5.88 of profit.
AVOID.
Against the spread
NICHOLLS +14.5 (-105) is worth a roll of the dice in the Southland title game, but go lightly. While McNeese has dominated the series, we've seen stranger things in March. The Colonels are an impressive 12-3 ATS in the past 15 games, which is the good news. The bad news is that 2 of those non-covers came against the Cowboys.
While McNeese has cashed in 2 straight, and 3 of the past 4 outings, McNeese is just 6-5 ATS in the previous 11 matchups.
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Over/Under
UNDER 140.5 (-112) is the lean, but go with a half-unit at most.
We saw McNeese cash the Under against Lamar in the semis, and the Under has a slight 3-2 lean in its past 5 games.
Nicholls has split the Over-Under in 2 Southland Tourney games. It cashed against A&M-CC, but that game also went to overtime. That halted a modest 3-0 Under run for the Colonels. The 2 matchups against McNeese ended up splitting the total 1-1.
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